Cosmopolitan Soccer League

Cosmopolitan Soccer League
Country United States United States
Confederation CONCACAF
Founded 1923
First season 1923–24
Number of teams 85
Level on pyramid 5
Domestic cup(s) Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
International cup(s) CONCACAF Champions League
Website cslny.com
2010–11 season

The Cosmopolitan Soccer League is a regional soccer league consisting of clubs based in and around New York City. Established in 1923, it is one of the oldest soccer leagues in the United States and has contributed greatly to the nation's soccer history. It served as the first division domestic league in the American soccer pyramid until the creation of Major League Soccer in the 1990s.

Currently, the league has four open divisions. The first two divisions require all clubs to also field reserve teams, a requirement that some leagues have abolished, but which the Cosmopolitan Soccer League believes makes its competition some of the strongest in United States soccer. The league also has an over-30 and an over-36 division. The league is USASA-affiliated.

The Cosmopolitan Soccer League plays a traditional international schedule with competition beginning the second weekend of September and running through June, with a winter break from the middle of December to early or middle March. During the winter months, the league runs an indoor tournament due to New York's cold climate.

History

For more details on this topic, see German-American Soccer League.

The Cosmopolitan Soccer League was formed as the German American Soccer League in 1923. In 1927, the association changed its name to the German American Football Association. The league was highly successful in the 1920s and, in New York, was behind only baseball and basketball in terms of popularity. The league struggled through the Great Depression and by the 1940s the game was viewed by most Americans as an "ethnic" sport. Attendance and popularity declined sharply until the founding of the North American Soccer League in 1968. By the mid-1970s, league officials recognized that in order to maintain the league's viability in the same market as the star-studded New York Cosmos, it needed to appeal to a wider audience and in 1977, it voted to change its name to the Cosmopolitan Soccer League.

Prior to the professionalizing of the modern American game, the United States national team often consisted of Cosmopolitan League players.

2015–2016 Team List

Division 1

Division 2


Metro Division 1

Metro Division 2

Over 30 Division

Over 36 Division

Inactive Clubs

Past Champions

See also

References

Notes
  1. ↑ "Historical Standings". Cosmopolitan Soccer League. Dec 5, 2012. Retrieved Dec 5, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Historical Standings". Cosmopolitan Soccer League. Dec 5, 2012. Retrieved Dec 5, 2012.

External links

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